One thing you may have been able to tell from my posts is that I went to college way back in the time before time, the dark ages, when computers stood alone on your desktop, occasionally dialing into an intranet or bulletin board via 14.4 baud modems.  In fact, for most of the time I was in college, we had only the most rudimentary email.  My point in saying this is not to make some of you marvel at my age, but to say that without the Internet to waste countless hours, we had to find other ways to entertain ourselves.  I mean, even before the Internet, we had to find something to do when we should have been studying.  In many instances, this meant finding a few friends and a deck of 52.  Card games were played everywhere, and one of the favorites was Spades.  As such, you can imagine my excitement when I found that Real Dice, earlier this year, had launched a Spades game on their network of online games.

[Note: Before reading on, you should read my review of Real Dice World Launcher, which will give you an overview of the environment in which this game exists.]

Installation and Registration: There are two ways to download the game. First, if you have subscribed to the full Real Dice Service, then you can download it over the air using the Real Dice Launcher. Additionally, you can download the desktop installer and install it via ActiveSync. If you are not a Real Dice member yet, there is a limited trial which you can use to test out the game.

Spades Overview and Gameplay: Spades is a unique game in that it requires you to read minds almost as much as it requires you to strategically play your cards. The game is played with four people and a deck of 52 cards.  The four players sit around the table, with one on each side.  The two pairs of players sitting across from one another are partners for the game. 

Each player receives 13 cards.  After reviewing their cards, they must bid on how many "tricks" they think they can win with their hand.  Bids must be made without communicating with your partner.  Once all bids have been revealed, your bid will be combined with that of your partner in order to create your team’s "contracts" for the hand.  The goal of the game is to exactly meet your team’s contract (any combination of hands equaling the total contact bid will work).  So, if you bid three and your partner bids four, any combination of seven winning hands will satisfy your contract.  In Real Dice Spades, you will be asked to bid at the beginning of each hand.  Simply use the arrows (which are a bit small) to increase or decrease your bid.  Of course, if you have a terribly low hand, then you can always bid 0, otherwise known as nil.  A nil bid, however, means that you will not play as a team with your partner.  Instead, your nil will stand alone and you must win no tricks that hand.

Scoring is pretty straightforward (each team’s score is displayed in the upper right corner).  If your team meets its bid, then you will earn 10 points for each trick won, up to the team contract.  After that, you will earn one point for each trick.  These are known as overtricks.  So, if you bid three and your partner bids four for a total of seven; but you each win four tricks for a total of eight, then you would earn ten points for the first seven (your team contract) and one for the overtrick, a total of 71 points.  If, however, you had each bid four, then your eight tricks won would exactly satisfy your team contract for a total of 80 points. 

If, however, your team fails to satisfy its team contract, then you will lose 10 points for each bid in your team contract.  So, in the above example, if the team contact were seven, and your team won only six tricks, then you would lose 70 points from your score (ten points for each of the seven bids).

If a player successfully bids nil and wins, earning no tricks, then the team will earn 100 points.  The team will lose 100 points, however, for an unsuccessful nil bid.  Likewise, each time a team wins a total of 10 overtricks, there is a 100 point penalty, which can be extremely costly.  As such, it is extremely important to bid exactly the number you think you can win.  The first team to reach 500 points is the winner.

Your bid is tracked by the numbers immediately beneath your hand (for other players, these numbers are right next to their avatar).  The first number is the number of tricks you bid.  The second number is the number of tricks you have on in that hand.  Simply total these with your partner’s numbers to determine how many more tricks you must win in the hand.

So, how do you win a trick?  Gameplay is fairly simple.  Each player is dealt 13 cards.  The first player then places any card from his hand into the center pile.  Play then proceeds clockwise, with each player placing one card in the middle.  The cards played must match the suit of the initial card.  If that player does not have any cards of the matching suit, then any card may be played.  The first card played cannot be a Spade,however, until Spades have been "broken" or played in a previous trick.  Once all four players have placed a card in the center, the trick has been played.  The player with the highest card matching the originally played suit will win the trick, unless a Spade has been played.  In that case, the highest Spade always wins.  Whichever player wins the trick will then begin the next round.  Play continues until all cards have been played.  To play a card, simply tap the screen with your stylus, or use the D-pad to scroll through your cards.

MultiPlayer Game: The rules for the online game are nearly identical to the single player game.  Simply log into the game lobby and scroll through the available games.  If there are no open games, you can even create one of your own.  Note, however, that Spades requires four players to begin a game.  If there are fewer than four players available, then you can use the computer to fill in the remaining players. 

When you create a game, you will have the option of setting the game length by adjusting how many points will be required to win (250, 500, or 750) as well as the turn speed (normal or fast).  This turn speed is the only real difference between the single player and multiplayer games.  In the multiplayer game, you only have a limited amount of time in which to make a move.  If time runs out, then the computer will step in and move for you (though I think it would have been preferable to simply pass the turn).  This timer ensures smooth gameplay for all players.  In my opinion, card games like Spades are always better when played against other people, where human emotions, egos, and intricacies can make a huge difference in how bets are made and which cards are played.  This element is frequently lost when playing against the computer, and I absolutely loved the multiplayer option which Real Dice offers.  I only wish there had been more people using it during the times I attempted to log in.

Graphics: I was extremely impressed by the graphics in Spades.  It is clear from looking at the intricate design, and almost three-dimensional effect on the table that Real Dice paid close attention to the details in the this game.  Nonetheless, I was a little disappointed by the lack one handed (or fingered) control.  The cards are very small, and made smaller when they are stacked in your hand.  As such, you will really need the stylus (and possibly a little bit of squinting) in order to play.

Saving: Saving your game is easy.  If you are in the middle of a game and heave to leave temporarily for any reason, just exit the game.  That is all there is to it.  No need to hot save or tell the game anything else.  Just exit and your game will be automatically saved.  The next time you start, you will be asked whether to restore your saved game.  Select yes to do so or select no to start a new game.

Conclusion: Spades has always been one of the more intriguing card games to me, mainly because of the team aspect it utilizes.  Or, I should say, semi-team aspect.  While scoring and winning are done as a team, bidding and creating a strategy are done alone.  This requires you to read your teammate’s mind and determine how you think he will bid when formulating your own bid.  Additionally, the game also requires a great deal of strategy, not only in bidding, but also in the order and manner in which you play your cards.  You want to win tricks, but not too many. Because so much of it is mental, Spades can be a game which does not translate well to an artificial intelligence.  Nonetheless, I thought Real Dice did a fantastic job with this one.  Aside from Texas Hold ‘Em, it is the best looking card game they offer.  I was a little disappointed by the tiny cards and interface, which made it impossible to play without a stylus, but this was a minor point compared to the artificial intelligence which is really the most important part of any computerized card game.  I thought Real Dice cunningly captured all of the intricacies and complexities of the game.

Vital Statistics:

Name: Real Dice Spades

Platform: WM6

Also Available: WM2003SE and higher, Palm OS,  Symbian, Windows Mobile Smartphone,and more… 

Developer: Real Dice

Price: $14.95

Available From: Real Dice

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